


Ginger

by MidnightFragments



Series: Tenipuri Ficlets [1]
Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-23
Updated: 2019-04-23
Packaged: 2020-01-24 07:43:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18566953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidnightFragments/pseuds/MidnightFragments
Summary: Waking up to the smell of ginger has become Ryoma's favorite thing about living with Tezuka.





	Ginger

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: tea.

Waking up to the smell of ginger has become Ryoma's favorite thing about living with Tezuka. He also likes having more time for sex and the feeling of Tezuka's arms around him as they sleep in _their_ bed, in _their_ bedroom, in _their_ home, but the smell of ginger that fills the apartment every morning when Tezuka drinks his tea tops everything else. Tezuka might work well into the night and come home when the younger boy is already asleep, but every day Ryoma wakes up and smells the ginger blends Tezuka uses for his morning tea, and he'll know his boyfriend is there waiting to see him off before he even opens his eyes.

It's almost as if Tezuka wakes him up with a gentle whisper, promising him that he is still there.

Until one day he wakes up, and the smell of ginger doesn't reach his nose. And when he gets out of bed and walks into the kitchen, Tezuka isn't there.

*

Ryoma doesn't hear about it until four days later. Tezuka's emergency contact is his father, and his traditional family has never approved of his sexuality and his life choices. They didn't think it was necessary to tell Kunimitsu's "friend" about the accident until Ryoma, worried sick and completely desperate already, called them to ask if they had heard anything from him.

If they had told him right away, he might have been able to be there and hold Tezuka's hand as his life left his body. But as it was, he didn't even get to attend the funeral.

The night he finds out, he burns a bunch of ginger blends. He cries silently as the smell spreads through the cold apartment.

*

Life without Tezuka is… different. They have been together for so long that his absence seems to affect every aspect of Ryoma's life. The bed is cold when he wakes up in the middle of the night because Tezuka isn't there to warm it up; the apartment is constantly dark because it was always Tezuka who opened the curtains and the shutters each morning; the fridge and cupboards hold only Ponta and instant meals these days, because Tezuka is not around anymore to stock them with actual food. And ginger tea blends. Those are still in the cupboard as well.

*

It's only when he is left alone that he realizes Tezuka was the only constant presence in his life other than his family. With Tezuka gone, Ryoma has no one to talk to when he can't keep his thoughts to himself. So he talks into the darkness as he lays on his side of the bed, pretending Tezuka is still there to hear.

Ryoma thinks back to the time he was in middle school and had other friends, before his life started revolving around Tezuka and Tezuka alone. He hasn't talked to any of his old teammates or classmates for years, didn't keep in touch after graduating high school. He doesn't even know what they all do these days.

Tezuka, apparently, did keep in touch, because one day Ryoma gets a call from Momo, and another he receives an e-mail from Eiji. He meets Momo for lunch and he renews his friendship with Eiji, but at the end of the day he still comes back home to an empty apartment.

*

Before, Ryoma was only a few exams away from graduating college. Now needs to repeat the final year for failing almost all his courses. He seriously considers dropping out, giving up, but then he thinks about Tezuka's approach for life and he knows he _needs_ to find the strength to move on. Tezuka wouldn't have wanted him to just stop.

So Ryoma repeats the last year of college. He barely talks to anyone and he drowns his days with class work and his part time job at the local library so he doesn't have any time to think.

But then he'll lie in his bed and try to fall asleep, and the bed will be too cold and too large, and the emotions will hit him like a tidal wave, knocking the breath right out of him and leaving him gasping for air.

And sometimes, when his mind is on the verge of sleep, he thinks he can smell the faint fragrance of ginger tea lulling him to the land of dreams.

*

In the middle of September, a little over six months after the accident, Tezuka Ayano knocks on Ryoma's door. He stares at her with wide eyes, though she doesn't look up from the ground. The long moment of silence is broken when she finally says, "I have never seen his apartment. He kept inviting us over, but I never made the time."

And Ryoma understands her grief, so he just takes a step back to allow her inside, and asks, "Would you like to have some tea with me?"

Tezuka's mother finally meets his eyes. "I'd love to."


End file.
